Scottie Pippen Continues His Assault On The Chicago Bulls

U MAD?

Scottie Pippen has already found himself in some hot water with Bulls fans over the last week when he said that LeBron James may be a better overall player than Michael Jordan was. Which on the Chicago Bulls Scale of Blasphemy ranked somewhere around 132 on a scale of 1-10 considering that LeBron James had just done to the Bulls to knock them out of the playoffs.

So you might think that Scottie would step back a bit and let things cool down before opening up about his feeling again. You would be wrong, however, as Scottie has fired some more shots at the Bulls this week, though he did make sure to focus on the current team this time.

Tweet Of The Day: 5-31-11

If I were a Michigan fan I'd get a tattoo of some Gold Pants.Tue May 31 02:05:07 via webRick Muscles
RickMuscles

There were a lot of great tweets yesterday, but this one just made me laugh more than the others. Another thing that made me laugh was the reaction to the Sports Illustrated story. I expected it from Ohio State fans, but not from everybody else. Were there new stories in there? No, not really, just that instead of 5 Buckeyes trading memorabilia THERE WERE 28 TOTAL NAMED OVER THE LAST 8 YEARS.

Oh, and some of them were trading the stuff for drugs and cars. NO BIG DEAL.

Breakfast Links: 5-31-11

Did you hear the big news yesterday? I know, I hardly believe it myself. After nearly two months of waiting, Brent Morel finally drew a walk.

• Folks at Wrigley yesterday got a few unexpected guests. - Mocksession
• Dallas McPherson had a craptastic Memorial Day. - MLB Trade Rumors
• Though not as terrible a day as Jim Tressel. I'm sure you haven't heard anything about this. - The Eye
• Tressel wasn't the only coach getting fired on Monday. - CSNChicago
• Your latest post on Adam Dunn getting ready to stop sucking. - Tribune
• If Jo-Jo Reyes can get one, surely John Danks will someday. - Big League Stew
• Anybody wanna be on Hard Knocks? Anybody? - PFT

Game Recaps

• The White Sox own Fenway. - White Sox
• Rodrigo Lopez was a true Cub in his first start with the team. - Cubs

Breakfast Links: 5-30-11

Happy Memorial Day

• I think Ozzie Guillen is mad at me, but I don't remember cuz I was drunk and peeing on statues. - Tribune
• Here are Ozzie's denials that he said some of that stuff. Anyway, who had May 29th as the day he finally blew in the Ozzie Pool? - Twitter
• Though at least Ozzie isn't the only angry person in the White Sox clubhouse. John Danks was none too pleased with Jose Bautista. - Sun-Times
• It wouldn't be [insert day of the week here] if the Cubs weren't putting a player on the disabled list. This time, it's Jeff Baker's turn. - ESPNChicago
• This is a crappy way to lose the Indy 500. - Deadspin
• The Rays are sorry about Avril Lavigne, everybody. - Big League Stew
• Speaking of naughty language, Jimmie Johnson's crew chief dropped an f-bomb on Fox last night. Also, two racing links in one day? This is my dad's favorite Breakfast Links of all time. - Mocksession

Game Recaps

• Oh, if you were wondering why the White Sox are so angry, well, you know, they're not very good. - White Sox
• Had to wait for the rain to move on, but the Cubs beat the Pirates on Sunday. Oh, and Aramis Ramirez hit his first home run since roughly 2008. Trade him now! While he has value! - Cubs

Asshole Of The Week: Jeff Berry

On Wednesday night the Florida Marlins' Scott Cousins scored the winning run when he bowled over San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey at home plate. It was a clean play, and one that we've seen hundreds of times in the game of baseball. Unfortunately, it was also a play that saw Posey break the fibula in his left leg and third grade sprains of the ligaments in his ankle as he was bent backward over his own legs. He'll be out for four to six months.

It was an ugly injury, no doubt about that. If you don't believe me, feel free to watch it for yourself.

Scottie Pippen Must Want Chicago To Hate Him

I think it's safe to assume that a lot of Bulls fans in this city are still in a bit of shock this morning. It's not that most of us felt that the Bulls would be able to come back from their 3-1 deficit against Miami to move onto the NBA Finals, but the way the team collapsed in the closing minutes last night kind of threw us all for a tailspin.

So I'm going to give Scottie Pippen a bit of a break, here. Pippen was on "Mike and Mike" early Friday morning when the subject of LeBron James and Michael Jordan came up. That's when Pippen committed one of the most heinous crimes that any former Chicago Bull could ever commit in the eyes of Bulls fans.

Tweet Of The Day: 5-27-11

Carlos Boozer looks like Shel Silverstein's author photo on the back of "The Giving Tree".Fri May 27 01:35:01 via Twitter for iPadSteve Rushin
SteveRushin

You know, for some reason, this tweet was a lot funnier when I first read it on Thursday night than it is now while I'm putting this post together. Wonder why?

Breakfast Links: 5-27-11

Welcome to baseball season, everybody

• As for last night, this pretty much sums up everything I felt watching the final 5 minutes of that game. - Twitter
• Joakim Noah sums up Miami pretty well. - SBNation
• A.J. Pierzynski feels bad for Buster Posey, but he doesn't feel there's any need to change any rules because of it. I'll have more on this later today. - Tribune
• I stand behind Drew here. - Deadspin
• Adam Dunn's season gets more embarrassing. He'll be batting 7th tonight. - ESPNChicago
• The Cubs made a huge trade that will turn the entire season around. - MLB Trade Rumors

Game Recaps

• If you feel the need to relive last night's Bulls game, here you go. - NBA
• The Blue Jays were kind enough to give the White Sox a win last night. - White Sox
• Can Carlos Zambrano play centerfield? - Cubs

Adam Dunn Says This Has Been A 'Season Of Embarrassment'

Like just about every White Sox fan, I was pretty damn excited when the White Sox announced that they'd signed Adam Dunn over the winter. Anybody who had to sit through a season of Mark Kotsay and Andruw Jones serving as the team's designated hitter while watching Jim Thome help lead the Minnesota Twins to a division title could have no other reaction.

Dunn was going to bring some of that left-handed thunder that had been missing back to the lineup. Yes, he was going to strike out a lot, but he was also going to draw a ton of walks and hit about 40 home runs. He was going to make the offense better.

MLB Power Rankings - Week 8

I went with a picture of the Mariners this week for reasons you'll figure out later, but there is no change atop the rankings this week. Cleveland has made itself at home on top, and it doesn't seem that they're going anywhere. Still, there is hope for the rest of baseball as the huge gap between Cleveland and everybody else that we've seen the last few weeks has gotten considerably smaller. They've fallen back toward the pack this week, and the Phillies and Cardinals are poised to pass them should they have a strong week.

See how everybody else fared after the jump.

Omer Asik's Season Is Reportedly Over

Realistically, the Bulls only have about two games left to play this year. My gut says that they'll come out Thursday night and win game five to send the series back to Miami for another game, but that they'll falter in South Beach and the year will be over. Unfortunately, according to multiple reports, Omer Asik's season is already over.

Asik hurt his leg after stepping on Derrick Rose's foot late in game three, and after trying to give it a go last night, Asik had to leave the game. Now we know that he won't be back at all, and will likely be out six to eight weeks with the injury, so even if the Bulls pulled out a miracle comeback against the Heat, he wouldn't be available for the NBA Finals.

Tweet Of The Day: 5-25-11

I want to write a post about tonight's game but all I have so far is "PUNCHES WALL PUNCHES WALL PUNCHES WALL PUNCHES WALL PUNCHES WALL."Wed May 25 04:11:17 via TweetDeckTom Fornelli
TomFornelli

I really did want to write a post about last night's Bulls loss, but I couldn't. It wasn't that I was really all that angry and punching walls, or that I was even depressed. I suppose that like a lot of you Bulls fans reading this, I just felt like I had my guts ripped out.

Breakfast Links: 5-25-11

I nominate 5-24-11 as the Worst Day of The Year in Chicago sports. These links will tell you why.

• What's that? The Bulls losing wasn't a big enough kick to the balls last night? Well then you should have switched over to Versus after so you could watch Vancouver clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Final! - TSN
• As for the Bulls game, how about the pervy cameraman TNT had working last night? - Mocksession
• Blackhawk legend Stan Mikita has oral cancer. - Sun-Times
• Jim Hendry thinks Marlon Byrd will be back at some point this season. - CSNChicago
• Why trade Carlos Quentin to make room for Dayan Viciedo? Haven't you heard of Juan Pierre? - Beerleaguer
• Barry Bonds: Maybe he's not as big an asshole as you thought. - Deadspin

Game Recaps

• The Bulls may not have died on Tuesday night, but the diagnosis isn't good. - NBA
• Darwin Barney and Starlin Castro continue to give Cubs fans reasons to care about this team. - Cubs
• Last night's White Sox game included tornadoes, golf-sized hail falling from the sky, a three-hour rain delay and three home runs from Carlos Quentin. The first and third coming six hours apart. Oh, and the White Sox won. - White Sox

NCAA Football 12 Needs To Come Out Already

I was going to write a post about Derrick Rose and his descension into "Westbrookdom" over the last two Bulls games, and I still might, but then Bryan Fischer introduced me to the newest trailer for NCAA Football 12 and now I'm completely distracted.

I need this game to get here two weeks ago.

Tweet Of The Day: 5-23-11

CWebb: "Haters, start giving Miami some credit. I include myself in that. Start giving Miami some credit. And Chicago? You better man up."Mon May 23 05:08:14 via TweetDeckHardwood Paroxysm
HPbasketball

Pretty much.

Breakfast Links: 5-23-11

Things aren't going so well when the team we should be most optimistic about at the moment seems to be the 22-26 White Sox.

• Meet the thing that everyone will be talking about the next few days other than the egg the Bulls laid on Sunday night. I know, I'm shocked that an athlete would say something like this too! I've always figured professional athletes to be perfect human beings. - Mocksession
• Joakim is sorry, though. - Tribune
• Apparently Derrick Rose said something about NBA players using PEDs and then he said that he didn't say anything about it. I never even knew he supposedly said it, I just hope he gets his hands on some before Tuesday night. - Bulls
• In case you haven't heard, Marlon Byrd was placed on the disabled list with multiple facial fractures. Which does not sound pleasant, nor does it sound like a baseball injury as much as it does an MMA injury. - Cubs
• Former Bears running back and special teams ace Garrett Wolfe was arrested in Miami. No word on whether or not he fouled LeBron. - PFT
• This is a few days old, obviously, but there is no limit on remembering the Macho Man. - With Leather

Game Recaps

• My original prediction was that Miami would win this series in six games, winning one in Chicago and all three at home. If only I could be happy that I'm right so far. - NBA
• The White Sox followed up a good road trip with a 5-2 homestand. Their reward is ten road games with Texas, Toronto and Boston! - White Sox
• Cubs fans will probably be all right with not going back to Fenway for another 93 years. - Cubs

Asshole Of The Week: Blogger

Welcome to Asshole Of The Week, where every Friday your trusty Foul Balls editor picks out the one person from the previous seven days who makes him think, "Man, what an asshole." It could be anybody from an athlete, an owner, someone in the media, or just anybody who happens to catch my ire.

I've had this blog since October of 2005, and that entire time I've gotten a few douchetastic smirks from fellow bloggers when they find out I run Foul Balls on Blogger instead of Wordpress. In their minds it seems that Blogger is the USA Today to Wordpress' New York Times. That's why when I started Blog Ten, I did so on Wordpress, and to be honest, I never really noticed that large of a difference for what I wanted to do. Generally the only differences were the page breaks and statistics at Wordpress, two features Blogger has since added.

The only difference as far as I could tell while doing Blog Ten was that Wordpress was down for maintenance a few times. While that happens on  Blogger as well, the maintenance usually runs at 3am when I'm not blogging, so it's never bothered me.

But then last week happened.

RIP: Macho Man

I don't write about wrestling here on Foul Balls because the truth of the matter is I just don't pay nearly as much attention to it as I used to. Sure, I'll drive to Des Moines to watch Wrestlemania with Adam Jacobi and Patrick Vint of Black Heart Gold Pants, but that's a special occasion.

But just because I'm 30 now and don't watch as much, that doesn't mean I didn't love it when I was growing up. And like most wrestling fans my age, I grew up fascinated with Randy "The Macho Man" Savage.

Which is why I was so sad to hear of the Macho Man's passing this morning.

Tweet Of The Day: 5-20-11

This is the B/R article on Austin Box that was pulled. http://twitpic.com/4ztvayThu May 19 22:54:53 via TwitpicPatrick S. Johnston
TheRealPSJ

Okay, I didn't think that this would be such an endemic in the world of college football. Pay close attention to me here, college football writers -- nay! ALL WRITERS OF WORDS ABOUT SPORTS! -- when a player dies suddenly and unexpectedly, let's try and wait a few days before we break into the "How will this affect the depth chart?" portion of the tragedy, all right?

Is this too much to fucking ask?

Breakfast Links: 5-20-11

It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.

• Congratulations to the Blackhawks for finally figuring out how restricted free agency works. Oh, and congrats to Corey Crawford on his new contract too. - Second City Hockey
• Demetri McCamey thinks he's going to be a first round pick. It's that overestimation of his abilities that led to such a wonderful career at Illinois. - Tribune
• Dennis Rodman is still crazy, but he reflects on being crazy as a Chicago Bull. - CSNChicago
• What do the Padres have in common with 29 other MLB teams? - Hardball Talk
• Breaking down Lance Briggs' pitching mechanics. - Beerleaguer
• There are no more Atlanta Thrashers. - Globe and Mail

Game Recaps

• The White Sox are now 4-1 against the Cleveland Indians this season. The rest of baseball is 11-25. - White Sox
• Chicago owns Miami! - Cubs

MLB Power Rankings - Week 7

I wasn't able to post last week's MLB Power Rankings thanks to the 30-hour outage by Blogger, but they're back this week. And yes, there's still that same team atop everybody else. The team that was three-hit by Jake Peavy on Wednesday night but has still done nothing but widen the gap between themselves and everybody else.

I'd wanted to dismiss the Indians in April, but here we are, over halfway through May, and even though there's a long way to go, you don't have much choice but to start taking the Tribe very seriously. They could be on top for a while.

Who Wants To Hear Carlos Boozer Rap?

Good news, everybody! It's possible that the Chicago Bulls won't have to pay the entirety of Carlos Boozer's contract here in Chicago, and Taj Gibson will finally be able to get into the starting lineup where he belongs. All we have to do is hope that Boozer's rap career takes off and he decides to retire.

Which is why Twista is the single greatest Bulls fan of all time. Not only did he come up with a Bulls anthem for the season, but he made sure to give MC Booz a verse on the track.

Tweet Of The Day: 5-19-11

Haslem is like Taj Gibson good.Thu May 19 02:23:58 via ÜberSocialBullsBlogger
BullsBlogger

It's true. While he wasn't the sole reason that Miami beat the Bulls last night, it's hard to overlook the impact Udonis Haslem had for the Heat off the bench. He helped take control of the glass and the Bulls were out-rebounded for only the second time this postseason.

Breakfast Links: 5-19-11

The Bulls kept on playing through the night and still only managed to score 22 more points. The Heat weren't there.

• My old high school, Proviso West, and Proviso East fired all their coaches due to budget cuts. I don't mean the football coaches, or the basketball coaches, I mean ALL their coaches - CSNChicago
• Lance Briggs says the Bears defense doesn't have to work out together like the offense is doing. At least, not yet. - Sun-Times
• LeBron clearly doesn't know what he's talking about. - Tribune
• What kind of haircut should Coco Crisp get? - With Leather
• This made me laugh quite a bit. - YouTube
• Some Canucks fans are a lot friendlier to opponents in the penalty box than others. NSFW - Deadspin

Game Recaps

• Probably shouldn't go planning that championship parade just yet. - Foul Balls
• Remember the Cy Young award winning Jake Peavy that the White Sox traded for? Yeah, he showed up to the ballpark last night, and against the Cleveland Indians no less. - White Sox
• The Cubs started off their road trip with a nice win in Miami. So at least we know a Chicago team can win in Miami. - Cubs

Miami Can Play Defense Too

In game one on Sunday night, the Bulls put forth one of the best defensive efforts we've seen in the NBA all season. On Wednesday night, in game two, Miami reminded everybody that they weren't half bad on the defensive end either.

Game two was an ugly game. There's no other way to put it, but it wasn't because of bad offense, it was because of outstanding defense. Every shot the Bulls made on Sunday night, Miami wouldn't let them make in game two. Before the game you kept hearing about how LeBron James had been sick the last few days, but the only player who looked sick tonight was Derrick Rose.

Benny The Bull Nearly Ends The Bulls Season

Panger has long said that Benny the Bull is the most dangerous mascot in all of sports, and seeing as how he nearly gored Derrick Rose during the Bulls pre-game huddle tonight, I'm now inclined to agree.

Via BlazersEdge

Brian Kelly Says Notre Dame Needs To Beat An SEC Team

The Notre Dame head coach was in Huntsville, Alabama on Tuesday for a meeting with a Notre Dame booster club in the area, and aside from making a donation to tornado relief funds in the area, he talked about what Notre Dame needs to do to be taken seriously once again.

I wrote about it over at The Eye.

Tweet Of The Day: 5-18-11

I had 2 laugh at ths..I was playing my oldest son Zaire on his nerf rim & he dunked & said Gibson while screaming..L2MS Kids u gotta luv emMon May 16 17:12:52 via ÜberSocialDwyane Wade
dwadeofficial

This tweet is actually a few days old, but I'll take anything that reminds me of the Taj Gibson dunks again. That and I wasn't really on Twitter yesterday, so I didn't see any tweets. Which is a rather important part of this feature.

Breakfast Links: 5-18-11

For everything they're terrible at, there is no better team in baseball at scoring the winning run on a wild pitch than the White Sox.

• LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are going to try to not play so poorly tonight. Shocking, I know. - Sun-Times
• Ozzie plans on getting a bit creative with the six-man rotation. - South Side Sox
• The White Sox called up Dallas McPherson instead of Dayan Viciedo because they want to make sure Viciedo gets regular playing time. Also, he can hit, and the White Sox have no room in the lineup for guys who can hit. - Tribune
• Brian Urlacher says the Bears are the best team in the NFC. - ESPNChicago
• Why do I feel like the Cavs getting the top pick a year after LeBron left with only a 2.8% chance -- thanks to a draft pick from the Clippers -- and still having their own pick at #4 isn't a coincidence? - ESPN

Game Recaps

• Thank god for Brent Morel last night. - White Sox
• The Cubs responded to Mike Quade saying the team needs to play better by committing four errors and blowing a lead. - Cubs

Ron Zook Got Some Bad News On Monday

It wasn't unexpected, but Illinois athletic director Ron Guenther made it official Monday morning, announcing that he'd be stepping down from his position at the end of June. Which means that Ron Zook loses his biggest -- and sometimes only -- supporter in Champaign. I wrote about what this could mean for Zook over at CBS.

Read it here.

Tweet Of The Day: 5-16-11

The Bulls should play this kind of defense on Oprah.Mon May 16 01:54:14 via TweetDeckMarcel Mutoni
marcel_mutoni

Seriously, now we have to wait until Wednesday before the Bulls and Heat meet again, and then after that they're off until Sunday. I don't know that it works out to an advantage or disadvantage for either team, but the way the Bulls shot last night I'd prefer it if game two was tomorrow morning.

Breakfast Links: 5-16-11

Some links for you to read while I wonder if Blogger will ever restore the posts it took down from the blog last Thursday. Personally I'm wondering if it's some giant conspiracy led by Jay Mariotti to have the story removed.

• Dwyane Wade talks about what it was like becoming Taj Gibson's bitch. - Tribune
• Lockout or no lockout, Jay Cutler says the Bears offense needs to get together. - Sun-Times
• Charles Oakley is suing a casino. Personally, if Charles Oakley was suing me, I'd just give him whatever the hell he wanted. In fact, I'd probably give him more than he asked for just to make sure he didn't beat me half to death. - ESPNChicago
• Pete Rose wants to be a manager again. Probably because he's been on the wrong end of a lot of baseball wagers lately. - The Hall of Very Good
• Don't hold your breath waiting for Juan Pierre to be benched. - Hardball Talk

Game Recaps

• Taj Gibson and the Bulls abused the Miami Heat last night. - Foul Balls
• The White Sox finished their west coast trip with a 6-3 record, which is pretty awesome. Now if only they weren't still 9 games out of first. - White Sox

The Bulls Dominate Miami In Game One

I'm not going to overreact to just one game in what is a seven game series. I'm not. Before the game started on Sunday night my prediction for the series was Miami in six. I may not have liked the prediction, personally, but it's how I felt.

The good news is, after watching the Bulls beat the Heat 103-82, I'm not nearly as confident in my prediction as I was before. Still, it's only one game. You have to win four before you can move on, and no matter what the score looked like, all the Bulls have done so far is what they're supposed to.

NO ONE MAN SHOULD HAVE ALL THAT POWER

I don't know what Taj Gibson had for breakfast this morning, but god help us all if he eats it again on Wednesday morning.

Via Ben Golliver once again.

Taj Gibson Destroys Dwyane Wade

Holy shit. That was Scottie Pippen on Patrick Ewing in 1994 awesome. Video after the jump.

Asshole Of The Week: Albert Lin

Oh, no, for real: THEY WENT THERE. So long, Insider subscription: http://twitpic.com/4wq8l4Thu May 12 18:37:24 via Seesmic twhirlHolly
Nastinchka

Oh yes, it's back. I'd been debating bringing this feature back for some time, and then earlier this week after re-reading the one on Greg in Cleveland and others, I realized that this was one of the more popular features I used to do on this blog. I'm not even sure why I stopped doing them. So I was thinking that I really should bring it back and then Mr. Albert Lin decided it for me.

Yes, it easily could have been Jay Mariotti this week, but as I've said in the past, it could be Jay Mariotti every week.

So what did Albert Lin do to deserve such an honor? Read on and find out.

So You Want To Be A Bandwagon Bulls Fan

Hello there, NBA fan. Now that your team has been eliminated from the NBA playoffs, you're looking for a team to root for. In the Eastern Conference you have two choices: the Miami Heat or the Chicago Bulls. Since there's no way in hell that you'd root for the Miami Heat unless you actually live in Miami -- and maybe not even then -- or you're just a LeBronophile, this means that your new favorite team is the Chicago Bulls.

Congratulations, new Bulls fan on an excellent choice. Now, to make things easier on you as you begin  your assimilation into Bullshood, I've decided to put together a handy little list of things you need to do to be just like a regular, been there all year long, Bulls fan.

NBC Chicago's Daryl Hawks Dead At 38

Some sad news this afternoon as word is just breaking now that NBC Chicago sports anchor Daryl Hawks was found dead in his Atlanta hotel room on Thursday morning.



From the report on NBC Chicago.

Tweet Of The Day: 5-12-11

If Lindsay Lohan met Jay Mariotti at a cafe and he was wearing an expensive watch, who would break the law first?Thu May 12 00:14:40 via TweetDeckTom Fornelli

TomFornelli

Yeah, I know. It's pretty lame to use one of my own tweets on this, but damn it, that shit was funny. Plus I didn't really see anything on Twitter that truly caught my eye yesterday.  Well, that and I'm just really enjoying the Mariotti mocking right now. It's nothing to be proud of, it's just that I had to be quiet for so long, and it's all finally found a reason to come out.

Jay Mariotti Can't Stop Getting In Trouble Or Going To Restaurants

Oh man has it been a long time since I was able to write a post like this. Though, to be perfectly honest with you, I much preferred to call Jay Mariotti out on his columns than to writing about his penchant for domestic violence.



But, damn it, Jay just won't stay out of trouble.

Can We Stick To Patrick Kane Bar Photos, Please?

Listen, there are always photos of Patrick Kane out partying surfacing on the internet. Whatever, he's a kid being a kid, and I was out doing the same crap when I was Kane's age. I just didn't have people taking pictures of me because I wasn't famous or anything. I was just a regular guy out getting hammered. A very handsome, regular guy. Still, if he's going to go out and get drunk in public, he should expect that people are going to take photos, and they're going to end up on the internet. It's just the world we live in.

This, however, is a bit much.

Tweet Of the Day: 5-11-11

Everybody complaining about the lockout! Shoot I'm making the most of it! Vacation, rest, relaxing, appearances here and there! I'm good! Tue May 10 00:05:31 via EchofonReggie Bush
reggie_bush

I'd like to make it clear that Reggie Bush said in the very next tweet that he was joking, and honestly, it's sort of funny. Still, given the kind of trouble Reggie's already found himself in because of Twitter -- essentially saying goodbye to New Orleans after the Saints drafted Mark Ingram -- in the last few weeks, he should probably just avoid saying this kind of crap on Twitter.

Breakfast Links: 5-11-11

Taj Gibson is taking too many damn shots!

• The White Sox are going to role with a six-man starting rotation until at least June. - Tribune
• Harry Teinowitz is out of rehab and will be back on the radio this afternoon. - Chicago Business
• A freshman from Hinsdale Central already has a scholarship offer from Iowa. - Eye on Recruiting
• Hope you memorized the Chicago Code while you still could. - What's Alan Watching?
• No wonder SNL is so good these days. They cut some of their best sketches. - Warming Glow
• I hope the bribes for both the World Cup and Olympics were worth it. - ESPN

Game Recaps

• Derrick Rose didn't take too many shots, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah sat the entire fourth quarter, and the Bulls won. - NBA
• Albert Pujols and Jim Hendry hugged, which totally means that he's going to be a Cub next year. Oh, also, the Cubs lost and it's possible Geovany Soto is headed to the disabled list. - Cubs
• Well, winning streaks can't last forever. - White Sox

Oprah's Messing With The Eastern Conference Finals

I'd like to start this post of with a big, giant IF because it is most definitely an IF scenario. The Bulls and Hawks are deadlocked at two games apiece in their second round matchup, but Charles Barkley gave out some inside information about the Eastern Conference Finals while doing an interview on ESPN radio this morning.

Should the Bulls win tonight and then finish off the series in Atlanta on Thursday - IF! - the NBA had been planning on starting the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday night in Chicago. Only the NBA can't because Oprah is in the way.

Media Fight: Teddy Greenstein and Chris DeLuca Drop The Gloves And Begin Typing With Malicious Intent

So Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald has himself a new contract extension that will keep him in Evanston until at least 2020. Which is news that you probably don't even care about. That is not the case with the papers reporting it, however.

Back in January, the Tribune's Teddy Greenstein first mentioned that a new deal was in the works for Fitzgerald. I know this because I used his report in a post over at CBS. Well, apparently today the Sun-Times ran a story on Fitzgerald's new deal and called it an exclusive. Which Greenstein didn't like.

Then, a mighty slap fight broke out on Twitter.

Tweet Of The Day: 5-10-11

Very sad to read Sean Avery's misguided support of same-gender "marriage". Legal or not, it will always be wrong.Mon May 09 20:38:47 via webUptown Sports
uptownhockey

You'll remember yesterday that I linked to New York Ranger Sean Avery appearing in an ad to support gay marriage. Well, that above is a tweet from Uptown Hockey, an agency that represents a number of hockey players. As you can see, Uptown Hockey does not agree with Avery's feelings, which is his right. It's just his next tweet that makes me shake my head.

To clarify. This is not hatred or bigotry towards gays. It is not intolerance in any way shape or form. I believe we are all equal...Mon May 09 22:22:45 via Twitter for iPhoneUptown Sports
uptownhockey

Yes, that's right. Uptown Hockey tolerates all, and believes everybody is equal. It's just he can't tolerate gay marriage or afford gay people the same rights as he does everyone else.

Makes sense to me.

Breakfast Links: 5-10-11

I didn't think that Oklahoma City/Memphis game was ever going to end last night.

• The White Sox didn't need a closer last night, but it seems that Sergio Santos will kind of fill that role for now. - South Side Sox
• Joakim Noah was named to the NBA's 2nd All-Defense team yesterday. - Bulls
• I guess if you go to Northwestern now it'll only be to learn. - Tribune
• A look at whether or not the White Sox can turn this all around. - Hardball Times
• It seems not being able to throw out Paul Konerko was the final straw. - MLB Trade Rumors
• Can Stephen Paea be the player the Bears want him to be? - ESPN
• Just a reminder of what Phil Jackson used to look like. - Fat Shawn Kemp

Game Recaps

• Oh hell yes three wins in a row. - White Sox

Maybe Bulls Fans Should Be Happy With Carlos Boozer

The main focus of any Bulls talk today seems to be Derrick Rose's shot total from last night's loss. More specifically, whether or not the 32 shots Rose took were too many for him to be taking. The simple answer is yes, 32 shots is way too many for Rose to be taking. Unfortunately, nobody else seemed to be willing to make any shots last night, so Derrick pretty much had to take all those shots, and he still had ten assists while doing it.

So, there, that debate is solved.

Tweet Of The Day: 5-9-11

@CBSSportsNCAAF and you need 2 go to hell and die!!!Sun May 08 03:53:49 via Twitter for BlackBerry®seth moomaw
smoomaw0809

This was a response to my post at CBS on Saturday saying that Ohio State should fire Jim Tressel. Ohio State fans: pretty normal.

Seriously, though. What's the deal with me and Cleveland Indians fans?

Breakfast Links: 5-9-11

All right, everybody. You can stop being nice to your mother for the next 364 days now.

• Speaking of Mother's Day, Panger wrote a nice story about her mother yesterday. - The Kitchen Sink
• Ramon Castro had a nice message for his mother yesterday as well. - TwitPic
• The number 5 has set its plan for world domination in order. - Hardball Talk
• Don't expect baseball to adopt a DUI policy anytime soon. - Biz of Baseball
• Grand theft dairy. - Tribune
• Charles Barkley has a neat helmet. - Mocksession
• Sean Avery wears stupid glasses, has strong message. - Puck Daddy

Game Recaps

• Somebody beside Derrick Rose will have to step up soon. Carlos Boozer helped for the first three quarters, but the Bulls didn't go to him in the fourth quarter. - NBA
• The White Sox won two games in a row and their first series of the season since April's home-opening set with Tampa Bay. - White Sox
• Ryan Dempster has another good start but gets nothing from his offense. - Cubs